Ola has the chance to do something tonight it hasn't done it almost 30 years - share the 5AA Conference title. Mustang head coach David Minnie said a victory will be awarded to the team who wants the game the most.

"It's going to be a hard-fought battle. It's not going to be a gimme, I promise you," Minnie said. "They're fighting for a playoff spot, and we're fighting for a share of the conference title and whoever wants it more is going to come out with it."

The Jessieville Lions (2-7, 2-2 5AA) stand in the way of Ola (6-3, 3-1 5AA) sharing the conference title, but the Lions are fighting for a playoff spot themselves. The Mustangs have scored the most points in the 5AA conference (296) with a 33-point average, while allowing a conference best 19 points a game. Needless to say, the only other team standing in Ola's way could be themselves.

"We can't have any turnovers. We've had three good weeks now with no turnovers. We've got to be able to take care of the football, make good decisions, hang onto the football and just play good assignment football on defense," Minnie said. "If we can do that, we've got a good shot at being successful."

Minnie said practice has been good, but he feels the emotions and fire displayed in last Friday's game against Danville could have fizzled out, but he's hoping not. He said the players know what's at stake and know the game won't be easy.

"I think last week was just a huge confidence builder. To be able to go in there and beat such a quality football team like Danville and come out with such a strong win, it does a world of good for their confidence," Minnie said. "It can also backfire on you, since it was such an emotional win. It takes a lot out of them. You've got to get them refocused and let them know it's not the end of the season. Right now, that win doesn't end the season, there's more to play for."

The task has not been easy for Minnie and his Mustangs, who have battled their way back into both the playoff and conference race, winning five out of their last six games. Minnie said he wanted to challenge his team this year in nonconference play, and he felt that helped his team down the stretch.

"It's unbelievably tough to play in this conference. Everybody can beat you in this conference. You have to play up for every ballgame. That was one of the reasons we scheduled such hard nonconference opponents," Minnie said. "With the first three ball games, we wanted to see some speed and size, and we got our wish. We got beat a couple of times there pretty handily, but I think it prepared us to go in this conference, which is physical and fast."

The Mustangs have battled and found themselves controlling their own destiny from now on. Ola will make their first playoff appearance since 2004 and its up to them how they are seeded.

"It's been almost 30 years since Ola has won or shared a conference championship, and that opportunity doesn't come around a lot, so these guys have to take advantage of the opportunity. The kids know what's at stake, it's exciting," Minnie said. "To go out and play against Jessieville is no easy task, they had a lot of injuries this year and now they've got all their kids back. It's going to be one of those ball games if you want it, you have to earn it."